The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about the withdrawal of a school place. This is because the Council was acting on behalf of an academy school. We have no powers to investigate when this is the case.
The complaint
The complainant, Mrs X, complained the Council wrongly withdrew a school place offered to her child. The place was at an academy school. Mrs X successfully appealed to an independent panel and her child was offered a place.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
We cannot investigate a complaint where the body complained about is not responsible for the issue being raised. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(1), as amended) We investigate complaints about councils and certain other bodies. We cannot investigate the actions of bodies such as academies (Local Government Act 1974, sections 25 and 34A, as amended) We cannot investigate a complaint if someone has appealed to a tribunal. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
Final decision
We cannot investigate Mrs X’s complaint. The school at the heart of her complaint is an academy. The Academy Trust is the admission authority and ultimately responsible for deciding matters about school admissions. The Council was merely carrying out this function on behalf of the school. Even if this exception did not apply, we could not investigate. This is because Mrs X appealed to an independent appeal panel. These are statutory tribunals and we cannot investigate when someone has appealed to a tribunal.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman